Should I become a Paralegal?

Ana P

I am a Litigation Paralegal in the State of Oregon. In the areas of Personal Injury and Workers' Compensation Law. I have 8 years of experience. I am originally from Mexico where I graduated from law school. I then moved to the USA and became a Paralegal. It is one of the most stressful jobs I have ever done, and can't wait until I don't have to do it anymore. Yet, I have other friends that love it but they all seem to have the same complaint. Attorneys are usually stuck up and like to blame their Paralegals for any mistake made. In general I can attest than making $60K a year is simply not enough money to justify putting up with the whinny (sp?) clients and/or stuck up attorneys. While I know any job have its pros and cons, being a Paralegal is simply not for me. I would suggest you make a list of pros and cons and then make your decision. Have you see how much Paralegals earn in your market? Good luck I am sure you will make the right decision.

Prorkycake

I answered a similar question earlier, so I just cut and paste my response. I really think that you should worry less about what other people say and focus more on what makes you happy and how your decisions affect you. There are always going to be miserable people trying to influence other people's decisions. The following paragraphs is what I had to say about the career field:

I am a paralegal in the State of Texas. To briefly answer your question, no one can accurately answer this question for you and anyone who gives you a "matter-of-fact" answer is full of it. The demand for paralegals is fully dependent on what area of the country you live in, and what area of law you plan to work in. With the economy in consideration, I can tell you that for the most part, all areas of law are feeling the pinch with the exception of the areas that benefit from the bad economy. For example, I work in construction litigation. We have the most business when contractors, owners, subcontractors, etc. aren't paying their bills. Last year, our small firm grossed over one million dollars in revenue and I walked away with a hefty bonus. This won't always be the case.

Are paralegals in demand? When you define "demand", I get the gist that you are asking if firms are chomping at the bit to hire you. The simple answer. No. Paralegals are not in such high demand that finding a job will be simple.

Is the profession recession proof? The simple answer. No profession is recession proof with the exception of those that do well on the misery and financial woes of others. Some areas of law prosper and some don't.

Should you invest in this kind of career? Again. This is dependent on you as a person and no one can accurately answer this for you. All I can tell you is that I enjoy being a paralegal, and that most people that come here on Yahoo do not have a clue what exactly a paralegal does, what the unsaid requirements are, and what kind of time and effort you have to invest to have a rewarding career.

I am a litigation paralegal and the only paralegal for the firm I work for. My daily tasks are mind numbing to most. I review pleadings boards, discovery boards, draft Motions, draft discovery responses and requests, contact the Court, write correspondence to Court personnel, Clerks, coordinate the service of citations with Sheriffs and Constables, coordinate mediations and depositions, arrange for copy service pick up and drop off, keep the client up to date on all documents we receive on their behalf, arrange trial exhibits, mess with trial software, OCR documents, scan documents, prepare attorneys for mediation and depositions, keep track of three attorneys' due dates and calendar every due date, schedule hearings, draft fax memorandums, proofread, draft Requests for Equitable Adjustment and every so often, do legal research. I am the eyes, ears and handy man of the office. I am the office's resident Excel and Word expert. I am always the one tasked to troubleshoot any of the computers. I do just about everything.

With that said, I work in a small firm. In larger firms, you may not have to do half of that because you have staff to do most of it. Our office doesn't have an IT department or a filing department..I do it all. You will need to ask yourself what kind of environment you want to work in. Many paralegals never touch a discovery board or a pleadings board. Again, all dependent on what kind of firm you work for.

I truly despise that someone would tell you that education is not important or a priority. A decade ago when the profession was still establishing itself, sure. There were many people that worked their way up the ladder. Is that so now? Absolutely not! At the very least, you will require an associate's degree for smaller firms and a bachelor's for larger firms. There is one thing certain. You will most likely not even get an interview if you do not have a credible education of some sort. If you don't already have a college degree, you will need one. Attend an ABA approved program and avoid online degrees or 1 year certificates. If you already have a bachelor's or even a masters, I would then say it may be acceptable to get an online degree or certificate. Obviously, with those kind of degrees, you've already demonstrated you've taken quite a bit of collegiate level courses.

Good luck with your decision, but please do not be one of these people that think becoming a paralegal is something you can just wake up one morning and do. The reason why people have so much trouble finding a job in this area is because they are not informed of the real qualifications they need to have.

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